Jim Harrison, way back in the embryonic days of American Karate, was at the Dojo practicing his Judo. In walks a man who wants to learn Karate. Sensei asks why? Well, the prospect has heard of the kicking and punching power of Karate and must possess that knowlege...

Well, Sensei points out, Judo includes kicking and punching, too. No. Not good enough. It must be Karate!

Sensei: I only teach Judo.Prospect: I have $500.Sensei: Let's go out back and start with 50 knuckle push-ups on the asphalt...

The legendary history of the first Karate Class in Kansas City...

[IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

Hope you enjoyed! (Hope you get the point! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG] )

If you want to learn a punching and kicking art I would lean towards Karate because as I understand it in Sport Taekwondo you are not even allowed to punch to the face area at all. I have heard it said the Taekwondo is 70% kicking & 30% punching where as Karate is 50-50.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ishinnick:If you want to learn a punching and kicking art I would lean towards Karate because as I understand it in Sport Taekwondo you are not even allowed to punch to the face area at all. I have heard it said the Taekwondo is 70% kicking & 30% punching where as Karate is 50-50.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ishinnick:If you want to learn a punching and kicking art I would lean towards Karate because as I understand it in Sport Taekwondo you are not even allowed to punch to the face area at all. I have heard it said the Taekwondo is 70% kicking & 30% punching where as Karate is 50-50.[/QUOTE]

In the ART of Tae Kwon Do you will focus a lot on kicks but it also has an assortment of punches, knife hand and elbow techniques which aim for the head, neck, upper body, etc. Maybe in these weakened sport versions of TKD they don't "punch to the face" but in the art I study we do.

look tkd has every strike the other karates do,every time i hear someone say they don't use hardly any hand strikes it's some nimrod who tried it 3 consecutive times.i can not speak for other schools but we did straight rights; right cross, left hooks, upper cuts, back fist ridge hand,elbow strikes,finger jabs simulated of courseshovel hooks,as well as being finest kickers out there.if you went to billy bobs house of chops and tkd,then for GODSsake cut with the i know all about tkd horse shirt. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/cool.gif[/IMG]

I'd tend to Shotokan or perhaps Goju Ryu. That said TKD kicks are a handful when you are on the receiving end so are another option.

As regard ju jitsu and aikido strikes: atemi is a fundamental part of those arts so it should be there. proper Koryu Jiu jitsu is rare here in the UK....yes I AM looking by the way. Much Jiu jitsu taught here is judo seasones with a bit of this art or another. no bad thing sometimes butI am after some back to roots research.

As a Wado man I can also tell you that Wado Ryu is a a mixture of Shinto Yoshin Ryu Jiu Jitsu plus Shotkan Karate in it's earliest form , plus some influences from other notable like Kenwa Mabinu and Choki Motobu. That said...i found it hard enough to find good Wado tuition covering all those aspects so....good look.

Look at as many dojos as you can and pick the other style on the basis of what suits your body (might take a few weeks of training there to suss this out).

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ken harding:I'd tend to Shotokan or perhaps Goju Ryu. That said TKD kicks are a handful when you are on the receiving end so are another option.

As regard ju jitsu and aikido strikes: atemi is a fundamental part of those arts so it should be there. proper Koryu Jiu jitsu is rare here in the UK....yes I AM looking by the way. Much Jiu jitsu taught here is judo seasones with a bit of this art or another. no bad thing sometimes butI am after some back to roots research.

As a Wado man I can also tell you that Wado Ryu is a a mixture of Shinto Yoshin Ryu Jiu Jitsu plus Shotkan Karate in it's earliest form , plus some influences from other notable like Kenwa Mabinu and Choki Motobu. That said...i found it hard enough to find good Wado tuition covering all those aspects so....good look.

Look at as many dojos as you can and pick the other style on the basis of what suits your body (might take a few weeks of training there to suss this out).[/QUOTE]

I am a Shotokan man myself but train regularly in Wado when i am in the UK, enough to recognise crap when I see it. I have to say that Wado seems to have suffered in a lot of the dojos I have seen from getting reduced to the worst sort of rubbish. On the flip side I have been lucky enough to train with some excellent Wado Karateka.